Dress culture of African aborigines

Africans pay great attention to hairstyles, especially women. Besides wearing colorful clothes, they also like to comb new and elegant hairstyles.

African women's heads are curly. They can't comb them themselves and need help from others. Therefore, in urban and rural areas of African countries, mobile stalls dedicated to women's hair can be seen everywhere. Barbers in Africa are ingenious, and can design and comb out various beautiful and elegant hairstyles with national characteristics according to different ages, identities and occupations. Most of the little girls' hairstyles are light and lively, some are pigtails, which stand upright on the top of the head, and some are centered on the top of the head and combed into several neatly arranged pigtails from top to bottom; Young women like a round hairstyle, which consists of countless braids standing around, or woven into various patterns with black moss lines; Middle-aged women braid their hair with silk thread or put it on their heads or shoulders. Some pull short hair into pigtails close to the scalp, which are shaped like watermelons, while others divide the hair into small pieces of the same size and tie them tightly together like pineapples. In addition, there are "fish scale type", "snail type" and "shell pattern type" named after their shapes. Some women also decorate their hair styles with shells and beads, which look radiant. In recent years, African hairdressers have designed a new hairstyle, that is, combing out two rows of porous bridges with the same height and orderly intervals between the top of the head and the root of the neck, just like "small bridges flowing water", which is very unique. It takes time for African women to comb their hair once, ranging from one or two hours to three or four hours.

Africans' concern for hairstyles not only shows their love for beauty, but also shows Africans' national attributes, traditional concepts and personality characteristics, and even their different situations. For example, a woman shaves her head, which is usually a sign of a widow, indicating that she has lost her husband; A child in Niger has one, two or three locks of hair on his head, which means that the child has lost his father, mother or parents. Fourbet people in Guinea, both men and women, tell people that they are in mourning as long as their hair is fluffy and messy.

In Africa, men's hairstyles are not worse than women's. If there is a Zulu man, cut the braid into tassels and hang your forehead. Men in Cognac, Guinea, have a traditional idea that roosters are the embodiment of precious qualities. Therefore, they often have a tall comb-like hairstyle on their shaved heads, which is proud and proud.

Malians like to make their hair very high, just like the horns stand on their heads. Moors' hairstyles are like humps. Sometimes they simply imitate camels to show that they are as hardworking and hardworking as camels. It is found in East Africa that some soldiers often put their hair behind their heads, comb it into braids, drag it on their backs like a sharp snake letter, and fix their hair styles with grease and other adhesives, which is a traditional habit and hobby of the Masai people. The Didi people in Uganda comb their hair in the shape of a mushroom umbrella, which is said to protect their eyes from direct sunlight.

The number of African braids varies from custom to custom. For example, the Dogon people twist their hair into 80 pigtails to show "national unity".

When Nandi people, a nomadic people on the border between Uganda and Kenya, went out to fight, no one in their hometown could name the conscripts, but they had to be called by the names of birds. If the child forgets this taboo and blurts out the names of distant soldiers, his mother scolds him: "Don't say those birds in the sky!" " "

If the Bangala people in Congo are fishing or come back from fishing, his name will be temporarily unused and no one can mention it. No matter what the fisherman's real name is, people call him "Muwell" indiscriminately. The reason is that the river is full of elves. If you hear the fisherman's real name, you will play a trick on him and make him get nothing or little. Even if the fisherman catches the fish and brings it ashore, the buyer can't call the fish by his real name, because at this moment, if the elf hears the fisherman's real name, he will keep it in mind and punish him or damage the fish he catches in the future, so that it can't sell at a good price. Therefore, if a fisherman is seriously injured by anyone who calls his name, he can ask the person who accidentally calls his name to buy his fish at a better price as compensation.

The Rugbala people in the Ugandan tribe attach great importance to naming their newborns after their mothers, and their names are also very interesting. They often express the behavior and character of both parents or one of them, such as "laziness", which means that parents are lazy; In a beer glass, my father is an alcoholic; "No", the food prepared by the mother for her husband is too bad. Most of these names are not commendatory words for parents, and even often imply negligence, bad conduct, low social status and material shortage of one or both parents. Names such as "Evil Witch", "Foster Han Wife", "No Family and Friends", "Poor Dingdong" and "Hunger" are all names, while the names of local Banerou people are often related to themes such as death, sadness, poverty and neighborhood hostility.

There is a well-known fairy tale in Africa, which tells a story with a name: a mother gave birth to six sons in succession. When they grew up, they traveled together and never returned for a long time. Mother was anxious and worried, but there was nothing she could do. Later, my mother gave birth to a seventh son, because he fell right next to her thumb when he was born, so he was named "Thumb".

I have a distant relative who used to work in Tanzania. According to him, people there like to use official titles such as "major" and "minister". Once he asked a young man his name, but the young man said, "Goodbye." He froze. He met a girl on the road and asked her name. She said, "Hello." He replied, "Thank you. What's your name? " The girl said, "Hello." This was repeated several times before he suddenly realized. It turns out that "goodbye" and "hello" are all names.

A friend of mine teaches in Congo, and many of his students have strange names. One is called "pain", which is difficult for mothers to give birth; There is also a voice. When he went ashore, his mother had just heard the whistle of the train in the distance. There is also a twin named "Guinea fowl".

1. Greetings

A popular greeting in Africa-raise your right hand and point your palm at the other person to show that "I don't have a stone in my hand." Obviously, it shows that the custom of "unarmed" has been widely adopted all over the world since ancient times, but the style is slightly different. Can be said to be a symbol of friendship.

2.negro and black are forbidden sentences.

Black Americans have no resistance to the word black. However, when I heard someone call him Negro (meaning black, especially black people from Africa and descendants who were sold to the United States as slaves), I flew into a rage. Africans not only resist the words Negro and Black, but also refuse to recognize their meanings. Emphasizing different skin colors is the biggest taboo in Africa.

Africans are best called by nationality. Generally speaking, Africans have a strong sense of country, and calling them by their names is very useful to them.

The title of 3.3. Africa has a specific target.

It is a serious mistake to call African blacks Africans. In Africa, the so-called Africans do not refer to all Africans, but to a specific group, namely South Africans and Dutch-born whites. So those African aborigines, when they are called Africans by others, openly express their disgust.

4. Don't shoot behind the scenes

Any country has areas where the poor are concentrated, and the United States, the richest man in the world, is no exception. If you take pictures in those dirty areas with great interest, the locals who travel with you will protest and even refuse to be your guide.

People in developing countries hate losing self-esteem, which is a fact that tourists must realize. Seeing the backward scene and wanting to take pictures as a souvenir is tantamount to finding fault. It's best not to do such thoughtless behavior.

5. Don't stare at each other

In ancient Ethiopia, waiters served with their backs to their hosts (or guests). There is a superstition in Ethiopia that when someone stares at you, the stared person is doomed or death will find him. In this country, you can't stare at the local people when you talk or meet them. If you do this, the other party will be very unhappy.

People who thrive on African soil have formed unique dietary characteristics due to climate, culture and other factors. In Africa, there are many native spices, vegetables and fruits, and there are many varieties. So since ancient times, a variety of foods have been cooked together. For meat, curry, milkshake, tomato juice and other methods are used, while for pasta, the method of mixing with other fruits and frying in oil is used.

Due to historical factors, African cuisine not only retains traditional cooking methods, but also absorbs many French cuisine practices, and is also influenced by many Italian and Middle Eastern Arab countries, thus forming a unique food structure. From North Africa to South Africa, due to the influence of race, religion and culture, the main style of its diet lies in the "hodgepodge" of various foods in the form of roasting, stewing and stewing.

African food has always been famous for its seasoning art, and all kinds of spices and seasonings, such as pepper, cardamom, cinnamon and clove, are used incisively and vividly.

In many parts of Africa, you don't need tables, chairs, knives and forks, let alone chopsticks, but grab food with your hands. When eating, everyone sits around with a lunch box and a vegetable box in the middle. Everyone grabs the edge of the lunch box or vegetable box with his left hand, and grabs the rice and vegetables in front of him with his right finger and sends them to his mouth. At this point, you will be at a loss and even grab a hand full of food, while Africans grab food by themselves and eat it clean.

Guests should pay attention not to spill food on the ground when eating, which is a big taboo for the host. After dinner, the younger generation should sit still and wait while the elders are still there. When the child leaves, he must salute and thank his parents. Guests should leave together after the host has finished eating.

In many parts of Africa, there are strict etiquette for eating, and even every part of cattle, sheep, chicken and duck has rules on who should eat. For example, in Mali, men with chicken thighs eat chicken breasts, and older women eat chicken breasts; The person in charge eats chicken neck, stomach and liver; The chicken's head, claws and wings are shared by children. Another example is in Botswana, where guests and men eat beef and married women eat chop suey at large public banquets. Cook and eat the two separately, and don't confuse them. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, you'd better know.